Das Boot! and the Temple of Isis at Philae

Today was the day we boarded our boat.  We had been upgraded to the Dolce Vita.  I had never been on a cruise ship before so was really impressed with this.  Looked a little ghetto to me at first with huge pictures of musicians painted on the sides but the rooms were very nice.  On the agenda for today was the Temple of Isis at Philae, Agha Khan Mauseleum and Elephantin Island as well as a ride on a felucca boat.  I am amazed at all the different modes of transportation we have been on (as well as the many number of ways to flush a toilet...ask Shelly about that!).  We sailed to the Temple of Isis which was very impressive.  I could just imagine how beautiful it was in its day.  Again many of the temples had to be moved when the high dam was built but they are no less impressive in their new locations.  Some new islands were created when the lake filled as mountains were covered with water and only the tops are visible.  Our boat ran out of gas on the way back to the mainland so we were towed in by another boat!  The Mausoleum of Agha Khan was impressive and there was a very romantic love story surrounding it.  Apparently his wife went every morning to the mausoleum after he had died and left a red rose there.  After her death (some 30-40 years later) the caretakers of the mausoleum continued the tradition, leaving two roses to represent the true and eternal love of the couple.  The felucca ride was nice and we took pictures of ourselves putting our hands in the Nile (and then another picture to prove we used hand sanitizer afterward).  There wasn't much wind though so it was slow going.  We went to the Nubian Village on Elephatine Island.  As we disembarked we were met with a herd of the cutest little goats I had ever seen.  It was like they were thinking "oh joy!  more people!"  We walked into the village where the people were very poor...yet very happy people!  We visited a museum of various flora and fauna of the area.  Shelly and I got henna tatoos on our arms (they wear off after 10 or so days).  It was very pleasant sitting on the roof of a house in a quiet village...so peaceful and beautiful as we could look out over the gardens.  We then visited another woman in her home and had tea while visiting with her family.  It was interesting to see the contrast of village life with the more lively city life.  Our guide explained that the people of Nubia were displaced after the high dam was built and Nubia was submerged under the water.  The government moved the people, some to Egypt and some to Darhfur.  Interestingly an entire gold mine was submerged! (We were also told that at one time silver had more value than gold because it was more scarce.)

When we arrived back at the boat we discovered the crew was very gifted at arranging our bath towels to look like a swan!  In fact every night on the boat we were met with a new arrangement! (The funniest one was the monkey hanging from the ceiling!)

We hve decided to go the extra gauntlet and visit two temples not on our itinerary but very worth seeing according to Abdul.  The next couple of days re going to be crazy busy!!!

Christine xx